Another choke: Buckeyes lose in heartbreaker to USC

COLUMBUS -- Add another frustrating loss to the list. For the second consecutive week Ohio State coach Jim Tressel decided against attempting a fourth quarter field goal, and this time his team paid for it with an 18-15 loss in front of the largest crowd in Ohio Stadium history.

Leading 15-10 with a little over seven minutes remaining in the contest, Tressel decided against allowing senior kicker Aaron Pettery attempt what would have been a 53-yard field goal, deciding to punt the ball away and put the ball in true freshman quarterback Matt Barkley's hands.

Pettrey entered the contest with five career field goals of 50-plus yards. He had also connected on a 57-yarder on the same side of the field during the Buckeyes' annual Jersey Scrimmage last month.

Tressel decided to forgo a short field goal attempt last week against Navy that, if successful, would have put the Buckeyes up by 18 points. Ohio State had to hold on at the end, winning by four.

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"If we didn't make it we didn't want to put our defense in that situation," Tressel said of deciding to punt. "We thought we would be better-served to pin them deep down in there, which Jon Thoma did a great job all night doing. But we didn't finish the job."

Barkley, the first true freshman to start at quarterback in USC history, responded like a wily veteran when given a chance. Buckeyes punter Jon Thoma pinned USC back at their own 14 with 7:15 remaining, and Barkley marched his team 86 yards in 14 plays, a drive that chewed up 6:10 and gave the Trojans the victory.

USC took the lead on a Stefan Johnson 2-yard touchdown run around the right end, when he scampered into the end zone untouched. Barkley completed 3 of 5 passes for 53 yards and twice converted fourth-and-short chances with quarterback sneaks during the game-winning drive.

"They came up with the plays they needed to make on that last drive," Tressel said. "So they go home with the spoils."

It was a crippling blow for a Buckeyes team that dominated most of the evening, only to come up short against a top-tier game yet again.

"That was a tough game, no doubt about it," Tressel said. "Our kids played extremely hard, we just didn't come up with enough of the things you need to do to win a ballgame like that."

The Buckeyes controlled most of the second half, and it all started with a USC mistake. Punting from its own 11-yard line, the snap sailed over punter Billy O'Malley's head and out of the end zone for a safety, giving Ohio State a 12-10 lead.

DeVier Posey returned the ensuing free kick 24 yards to set the Buckeyes in Trojans territory at the 43. Nine plays later Aaron Pettrey connected on a 22-yard field goal to give the Buckeyes a 15-10 lead.

Meanwhile, the Trojans could not get out of their own way. A pair of critical holding penalties kept them pinned deep in their own territory. In the second half USC started drives at its own 20 (backed up to the 10 by a holding penalty), its own 26 (backed up to the 16 by another holding penalty), and the game-winning drive that started at the 14.

One of the biggest problems for the Buckeyes was their inability to convert on third down. For the game the Buckeyes were successful on just 4 of 13 third downs.

"Third down is difficult, no doubt about it," Tressel said. "Especially when you're third and long. You need to come up with some key ones and string a couple third down conversions together so you can get in the scoring zone."

The Buckeyes had a chance late in the game, taking over at their own 36 with 1:01 showing on the clock. But the Buckeyes unraveled.

First, Pryor was called for intentional grounding on first down when the Trojans came on a corner blitz. This backed the Buckeyes up to their own

Pryor got 14 yards back on a quarterback scramble, but on the next play, with the clock ticking, he threw a short out to Dane Sanzenbacher that only got the ball back to the original line of scrimmage. Facing fourth and 10 Pryor hung up a deep pass towards DeVier Posey that fell incomplete and turned the ball over to the Trojans, who had to take two snaps to wind down the clock.

The Buckeyes failed to move the ball on the ground all game, rushing for just 100 yards on 28 carries.

Pryor was ineffective as well, completing just 11 of 24 passes for 178 yards and an interception.

Barkley, on the other hand, showed why he was the most heavily-recruited player in the 2009 recruiting class. Ohio State's defensive line failed to pressure him most of the night, allowing him to sit calmly in the pocket and find the open receiver.

"All losses hurt, but this one hurts the most because it was today," Tressel said.

Ohio State will look to rebound Saturday when it squares off with the University of Toledo at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

NOTES: Ohio State moved to 6-3 at home in night games since 1959 and 32-16 all time in evening contests. Under Tressel Ohio State is 14-10 in night games and 2-3 at home. ... The loss dropped the Buckeyes to 33-13 against ranked opponents under Tressel. ... Crowds of over 100,000 have now seen the last 50 Buckeyes games at Ohio Stadium. ... USC improved to 13-9-1 in the all-time series with Ohio State and has won the last seven contests. ... Ohio State fell to 44-18-2 all-time in games against the Pac-10 conference. ... With his 177 passing yards, Terrelle Pryor went over 1,500 passing yards in his career. ... Dane Sanzenbacher's 56-yard reception was the longest of his career. ... Ohio State's defense did not allow a first down until the 13:15 mark of the second quarter. USC had only five yards of total offense on its first three possessions.